Welsh Cuisine
Cawl – The National Dish of Wales.
Cawl is a broth that is recognised as a national dish of Wales. It is usually served as a single course and most often contains lamb and leeks, due to their association with Welsh culture, and a selection of favourite vegetables.
The word cawl is first recorded as a recipe in the 14th century and is thought to come from the Latin caulis, meaning the stalk of a plant or a cabbage. Historically the most common recipes included salted bacon or beef with swedes, carrots and other seasonal vegetables as well as potatoes after their introduction to Europe in the latter half of the 16th century.
Famous Welsh
Sir Thomas George Jones KBE (1921)
5th January 1881 – 30th November 1948
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp136596/sir-thomas-george-jon
Gareth Jones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Jones_(journalist)
Welsh Sites and Cultural Heritage
Tintern Abbey
Big Pit
Lesser known
The Welsh Mansion
Nannau Hall was built on the site of a 12th century mansion which was destroyed in 1402 by Owain Glyndwr. Owain Glyndwr famously killed his cousin, Hywel Sele, in the park at Nannau.
The history of the Nannau estate is a mix of fascinating characters and more than a bit of popular myth. There has been a house at Nannau since the 12th century, when the estate was in the hands of Cadwfgan, Prince of Powys.
The most famous episode in the long history of Nannau happened in 1402, at the height of Owain Glyndwr’s revolt against the English crown. The owner of Nannau at that time was Hywel Sele, a cousin of Glyndwr and an English supporter. The story goes that Hywel invited his cousin to Nannau for a friendly bit of hunting and political debate. But Hywel had more in mind that a cousinly chat; he planned to murder the rebellious Glyndwr.
The two cousins went out hunting on the estate. They spotted a stag, and Hywel drew his bow to fire an arrow But instead of firing at the stag, he turned and fired the arrow directly at Owain. That would have been the end of the legendary Welsh leader, but Glyndwr clearly did not trust his cousin, for he wore a vest of chain mail beneath his clothing. Glyndwr drew his sword, killed his cousin, and hid the body in a hollow oak tree.
To be fair to Hywel Sele, another version of the story says that he intended to fire at the stag, but as he swivelled to track the running animal he found to his horror that he was aiming at his cousin. Either way, Owain Glyndwr slew his host, and having hid the body, fled into hiding. As for Hywel Sele, his body was not found for another 40 years.
The tree gained a reputation as a place of evil, where strange noises were heard. When the ancient tree was struck by lightning in the early 19th century it was cut up and used to make commemorative wooden objects for a coming of age party in honour of Robert Vaughan in 1824. Vaughan was a direct descendent of Hywel Sele. One of the drinking vessels made from the oak is now held in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.
The medieval house was burned down in 1404 during Glyndwr’s rebellion. In the early 17th century Huw Nannau Hen built a new house, but that seems to have disappeared by the 1660s, perhaps a casualty of the Civil War. In 1693 Col. Huw Nannau rebuilt the house, but when the Nannau male line died out the estate passed to the powerful Vaughan family by marriage.
In 1795 Robert Hywel Vaughan built a new house in Georgian style. At the same time he began to lay out the landscaped parkland for which Nannau is famous. The house stands 3 storeys high and 5 bays wide, on a square plan, built with local slate and stone with sandstone dressings. The interiors feature plasterwork ceilings and marble fireplaces.
By the mid-20th century the estate was ‘wrecked’ and a succession of short-term owners saw much of the land sold off, the demolition of some of the 18th-century house, and failed attempts to establish a hotel at the hall. By 2020 the lead from the roof had been stolen and the house was ‘deteriorating rapidly’. Nannau is a Grade II* listed building. It now sits in a sorry state with all the interior left to rot. Hopefully this post will help someone or a group to rescue this beautiful place.
Source: https://m.facebook.com/groups/268476174699271/permalink/573578067522412/
